And of right is it ours; and no man hath claim more righteous to this.”
In burning indignation there stood they, the friends of the King;
And the Lord of Metz, Knight Ortwein, stepped forth from the warrior-ring,
Crying, “Out upon these soft answers! My very heart have they wrung!
Lo, a causeless challenge Siegfried the strong at you all hath flung!
Though thou and thy brothers before him were standing with none to aid,
Though he brought a kingdom’s army against thee, my King, arrayed,
Yet would I maintain, I only, thy right against yon foe:
I would still his malapert vaunting, I would bring his high heart low!”
Outflamed the wrath of the hero, the lord of the Nether Land: